Can food be produced directly from thin air? The revolutionary idea of Finnish scientists sounds so ambitious that it looks more like the fiction of a science fiction writer or a fairy tale about a self-assembled tablecloth. However, from a scientific point of view, there is nothing fantastic in this proposal.
Moreover, the corresponding experiments have already been carried out and completed successfully, food samples have been obtained, and in 2021 it is even planned to build the first plant for the production of "air food".
The ambitious project is backed by a team of researchers from the LUT University in Finland (formerly Lappeenranta University of Technology) and their startup Solar Foods. However, scientists modestly note that only the technology was invented, the very idea was born back in the 1960s, at the dawn of the space age.
Soviet and American scientists thought about how to provide food for people in orbit or making long space flights - that is, completely cut off from our usual ways of obtaining food.
Making food out of thin air was considered one option. However, at that time this option was not very effective and extremely expensive, so it was quickly abandoned, and the plan remained unrealized.
Only now, after more than half a century, the idea has found its practical application, only not in space, but on earth. And "airy food" became a reality.
But how is this even possible?
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The air we breathe is a mixture of gases: mainly nitrogen (N), oxygen (O) and carbon dioxide (CO2), as well as water vapor (H2O) dissolved in them.
But exactly of the same elements - carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen (in various configurations) - any protein consists. So the necessary raw materials for production are in the air - the task actually comes down to correctly grouping the atoms.
All that is needed for this is electricity to break the water molecules into their constituent parts, and a few bacteria that begin to multiply, feeding on the products of this reaction.
“This process is a bit like growing yeast,” explains one of the authors of the technology, Professor Juha-Pekka Pitkanen, “but instead of sugar, there is electricity and carbon dioxide. With the help of electricity, water vapor molecules are broken down - and hydrogen is formed, which is a source of energy for microorganisms. And CO2 is a carbon source. From these parts, the bacteria produce proteins, fats, carbohydrates and even vitamins."
It is clear that the cost of such production depends primarily on the price of electricity. In Finland, where the first plant is going to be built, electricity is inexpensive. And carbon dioxide can not even be taken out of the air, where there is not so much of it, but the waste of biofuel production can be used - at the same time, simultaneously reducing harmful emissions.
Estimated capacity of the plant - 1 million tons per year; this is enough to provide protein for about 5 million people, that is, almost the entire population of the country.
In the future, the proposed technology can help solve the problem of hunger in developing countries (almost 800 million people in the world are undernourished), since it does not depend on climate or soil type and allows food to be produced in any conditions - even in the desert or in the Far North.
The Solar Foods project has already been selected for the European Space Agency's business incubator, which is testing the possibility of providing "air food" to space missions to Mars.
Moreover, both in a round-trip flight and on the Red Planet itself: there is plenty of sunlight there, and the atmosphere is almost entirely composed of carbon dioxide. However, the main problem is the lack of proven water reserves.
It's delicious?
In taste and appearance, the resulting food resembles ordinary wheat flour. This is a very nutritious substance: about half of it is made up of proteins, another quarter is made up of carbohydrates, and the rest is fats and nucleic acids.
But the main question remains: how tasty is it? According to the developers, the answer is not so important, since no one offers "airy food" in its raw form.
“This ingredient is the same as flour, soy protein or whey protein,” explains Professor Pitkanen. - It is not intended to be eaten raw. You can and should make ready-made products from it. At least bread, at least sausages. This food does not have its own pronounced taste, it is rather neutral."
So salt, sugar and other ingredients, in theory, will make it possible to produce at least snacks, at least desserts, at least main dishes from artificial protein, as is now the case with flour.
The scientist emphasizes: artificial protein has no task to completely replace the food we are used to. But in the long term - with the fight against climate change - Solar Foods should be the main source of protein for hot meals.
Over time, this will help eliminate almost entirely livestock, one of the main sources of carbon dioxide emissions, and partly from agriculture, the main cause of deforestation.
And for starters, they can at least replace animal feed. Although 6 euros per kilo for animal feed is a little expensive. The same soy protein costs several times cheaper. However, as production grows and in places where solar energy is cheap, the cost will decrease.
Bacteria for dinner?
It is impossible to patent the very technology of producing food out of thin air, so in theory anyone can do it, without any license.
The only thing for which a patent can be obtained is for the production of specific microorganisms. Indeed, in the final analysis, the resulting product is not just an artificial abstract protein with added carbohydrates. This is quite a living bacteria.
And here another important question arises - a psychological one. It is no secret that the recent calls of ecologists to eat insects, to put it mildly, do not cause much enthusiasm in civilized countries. Are we ready to eat bacteria every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner?
However, it must be remembered that, strictly speaking, we already eat bacteria every day - and in large quantities. Yeast, fermented milk and widely advertised bifidobacteria - and many others. And we don't even think about it.
“Of course, the word 'bacteria' has unpleasant associations,” says Professor Pitkanen, “but there are not only bad bacteria, but also good, very useful, even necessary. But what can I say, almost half of a person consists of bacterial cells."
Moreover, since bacteria are neither plants nor animals, food from the air can be considered not even vegetarian, but completely vegan.
“Many people told me personally that they would rather eat bacteria than insects,” Pitkanen smiles. - So the main question to be answered is what will be the final product so that people want to eat it? It should be delicious, whatever it is. Delicious, affordable and convenient."
“After all, caring for nature is usually not the most important thing people think about when they choose their own dinner,” he says.
Nikolay Voronin
